My post last Monday that dealt with exaggerated reporting by the MSM of the Iraq “civil war” turned out to be rather prescient if I do say so myself.
Yesterday, General George Casey, America’s top military commander in Iraq, gave a detailed analysis of what went on during the admittedly serious but hysterically over dramatized violence following the destruction of the golden dome on the Shia shrine in Samarra and came to the conclusion that both in numbers of incidents and severity of the violence, the MSM failed miserably in reporting accurately what was going on:
The top U.S. commander in Iraq yesterday declared an end to a 10-day wave of sectarian violence that killed an estimated 350 civilians, asserting that many reports of violence were “exaggerated.”(HT: Powerline)“It appears that the crisis has passed,” said Army Gen. George Casey, giving a detailed public report card. “But we all should be clear that Iraqis remain under threat of terrorist attacks by those who will stop at nothing to undermine the formation of this constitutionally elected government. ... They tried to have this [be] the straw that broke the camel’s back, and it failed.”
As I wrote on Monday (my information coming from about a dozen Iraqi bloggers that any reporter could have read if they took the time), Al Qaeda in Iraq made it part of their strategy to have propaganda cadres fan out and spread false stories and rumors about the violence that our MSM, eager to finally have their three year old predictions of civil war in Iraq come true, fell for hook, line, and sinker: Here’s what I wrote about the media’s predictions about civil war on Monday:
The Iraq “civil war†theme almost immediately became media short hand for the failures of the Bush Administration. It has since become a yardstick to measure the incompetence of the authorities to deal with the daunting set of problems facing the country in the aftermath of the war and in trying to build a strong government based on democratic values. But has the expectation of civil war led to reporters in Iraq swallowing disinformation from al Qaeda cells about horrendous death and destruction across the country that simply doesn’t exist?
General Casey:
He also said the number of violent incidents turned out to be lower than press and security forces reported in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the revered Shi’ite Askariya mosque in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Gen. Casey said that in a reported 30 attacks on mosques, only two were severely damaged. Of eight mosques that were reported damaged, inspections showed only one had damage—a broken window.“The overall levels of violence did not increase substantially as a result of the bombing,” he said in a statement that seems at odds with the 10 days of television footage and commentary. “It took us a few days to sort our way through what we considered in a lot of cases to be exaggerated reports.”
John Hinderaker points out that this kind of biased reporting is impossible to counter:
Initial reports of deaths in violence that followed the mosque bombing turned out to be inflated by a factor of four. In this and other respects, reporting on sectarian violence in Iraq resembles the reporting on Hurricane Katrina. No doubt many in the press and on the left are disappointed that al Qaeda’s effort to provoke civil war in Iraq has failed. But, once again, misleading headlines do damage that subsequent corrections can’t repair.
By most credible reports – both from Iraq and the Pentagon – most of the the violence done by sectarian mobs was either non-existent or blown out of proportion. Par for the course when examining how the MSM continues to misinform the public about what is really going on in Iraq and how the Iraqi people are struggling to overcome the numerous problems associated with re-building a nation from scratch.
8:16 pm
People would have to be really stupid to believe anything put out by the former MSM. They have put out so much mis-information (lies) in the past few months/years they have became a joke. The only accurrate part of the news any more is the comic strip and some of them are starting to slip over the edge. If the credit says AP, then you know for a fact the report is a lie.
9:14 pm
Yeah, things are just great in Iraq. You guys should just give up on this one. You can post crap like this until you’re blue in the face and the truth will remain that this war has been a disaster for our country. This careless and incompetent president screwed this up badly, and the price we’re going to eventually end up paying is an Iraq firmly in the orbit of Tehran.
So what do you think? Scandal-A-Week George’s next fiasco is starting to bubble up big and nasty all over. Did George W. Bush give away the nuclear cookie jar to India? And did he do it because he is desperate for positive headlines no matter what the consequences?
Stay tuned!
1:30 am
[...] Update: More here and here. [...]
9:18 am
Brownie:
Where in my post do I say anything about how “things are just great” in Iraq? Are you an idiot normally or do you just make an exception when you leave comments that reveal how stupid you truly are?
Mouth breathing brainless twits like you should read what is written on the page. The only point I was making has been born out by the facts; that the media exaggerated the violence following the destruction of the Shrine. Did you miss that? I don’t see any comment from you on the thrust of the post so I must assume you can’t read which means I’m wasting my time responding to you.
10:21 am
Rick – You always seem to respond to those whose opinions do not completely agree with yours with ridiculous personal attacks and hostility.
Are you really such an asshole?
Maybe if you used a more measured approach in your discussions you might actually find more people would be willing to join the discussions here.
11:13 am
“I could have done without the name calling and insults. I’ve come to expect better than that from most of the commenters on this site.” – Rick Moran, Feb. 13, 2006
If you do decry name calling in your comments, you might lead from example.
Those not holding to your views, but open to all views, must be repelled by the name calling here, and the hostility to those raising questions and points not totally with your views. They likely flee, never to return. You miss an opportunity to influence and draw supporters. Instead, you preach to the choir; which by most polls is getting smaller every day.
Don’t you want to use your blog to build support for your views?
And Miss Brown, dispite the provocation you too should avoid name calling. It works both ways.
Rick – you should consider making it blog policy to prohibit name calling and mocking from your comments and then delete ruthlessly ANY comments that violate that rule. Your blog is almost unique among those on the Right by actually allowing comments. Why squander the opportunity to be a place of earnest discussion where your views can be nurtured and spread?
11:23 am
Privacy:
If commenters would generally be as civil as you, I would have no problem at all.
The fact is 99% of the lefty commenters that come here are trolls like Elizabeth – people who say so many outrageously stupid things that it becomes tiresome trying to answer them.
By stupid I mean how can you “discuss” something that is not in the post? Or like Elizabeth:
Did George W. Bush give away the nuclear cookie jar to India? And did he do it because he is desperate for positive headlines no matter what the consequences?
That is so far beyond the pale as to be in the next state. That kind of Bush Derangement Sydrome I realized long ago is meant simply to get a rise out me and others so I give them what they want and if they persist, ban their asses. They are not serious people.
There are many liberals who come here and behave themselves and we’ve had quite spirited discussions about a host of issues. But I will not abide trolls.
5:23 pm
Rick,
Thanks for the response. Trolls must be frustrating, but I hope I’ve managed to suggest they are better ignored than bullied. The first impression you make newcomers you want to reach should be important to you.
As the political environment has polarized, it is tougher to find blogs that are fair to opposing viewpoints, not 100% on either side, and do not torture logic to support their views. There are a lot of people, myself included, who seek that.